Making a return visit to Fan Expo Canada this year are Adam West and Burt Ward the former
stars of the small screen’s BATMAN series. Both men are on hand to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Batman comic book. Fan Expo Canada is taking place at the Toronto Metro Convention Centre, and runs from August 28 until August 31. The camp action-adventure TV show originally ran from 1966 until 1968 but can still be seen in reruns ensuring that the infamous dialogue like “Holly macaroni!” and “To the Batcave!” will always resonate with older and younger fans who can embrace and appreciate the comedic side of the Caped Crusader and the Boy Wonder. West and Ward did a Q&A with their fans at the event and talked about the show’s villains, celebrity cameos and the upcoming LEGO Batman video game.

Welcome to Toronto Burt.Burt Ward: I was here a few years ago and it’s always fun coming to Toronto because the people are so nice and the food is so great and Adam and I have had a great time here.

What can you tell us about the upcoming BATMAN DVD?Adam West: It will have all 120 episodes of the show and there will also be a Blu-ray disc as well. You will be able to purchase one and have it for the rest of your life and your kids and your grandchildren will be able to enjoy it.

By the way, I want to clear something up about guys who wear tights—we get comments about that. I want to tell you that some of the most macho guys in the world wore tights. Errol Flynn and Baryshnikov wore tights. But the tights were really itchy folks, but they don’t have to ask about our tights.

How did the show come to air twice a week on television?Adam: It had never been done before. But ABC had those two nights available because of cancelled shows and they said, “Why don’t we put these two idiots (Laughs)…these two actors in a show called BATMAN, and it was the first show ever in colour that aired twice a week. We sold so many colour TV’s for the Japanese.

Burt, does it bother you that the Robin character is no longer a part of the big screen versions of BATMAN since Chris O’Donnell last played him?Burt: No it doesn’t bother me at all. What we did stands on its own and it was family entertainment to please mom, dad and the kids. We all had a great time and nobody ever really got hurt on BATMAN.

Who is your favourite villain on the show Adam?Adam: Catwoman. (Applause) I had to deal with 27 lives.

What about your favourite celebrity cameos that you worked with when your characters were scaling a building?Burt: As a young actor, it was a thrill working with all of these great people from Sammy Davis Jr., Jerry Lewis, Betty White and Hawaiian singer Don Ho. The reason they had these cameos is because there wasn’t enough villain roles and once BATMAN became a hit, everyone wanted to be a villain on the show. So they created the going up the side of the building, so that the celebrities would get a chance to be on the show.

Adam, how did you feel when Warner Bros. contacted you about working on the upcoming video game LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham?Adam: I was delighted because I’m greedy. I would do just about anything Batman and Robin. And LEGO is a good opportunity to play Batman again on another level. I enjoyed it very much and they paid me.

Burt, if you were ever asked to join Adam on FAMILY GUY would you do it?Burt: Sure, I would love to work with my buddy here.Adam: As long as he votes for me as the Mayor. (Laughs)

For more info about Fan Expo Canada visit fanexpocanada.com.

About the author: Terri-Lynne Waldron has been a journalist for over 20 years and you can
follow her on Twitter at @tw1976